Why Is the French Baguette Being Honored?

In France, the baguette isn't just the most popular type of bread -- it's an artisan product that's become a social keystone. Learn how French laws and UNESCO are upholding its traditions in this episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://recipes.howstuffworks.com/french-baguette-unesco.htm

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey brain Stuff
Lauren Vogelbaum. Here. The French baguette is a type of
bread so iconic that it has its own emoji, So
it stands to reason. The United Nations Cultural Agency UNESCO
placed the baguette, along with the artisanal know how and

(00:23):
culture of baguette bread, on its twenty twenty two representative
List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. UNESCO's list of
Intangible Cultural Heritage entries already includes about six hundred traditions
from more than one hundred and thirty countries. Inclusion in
the list means recognizing a country's heritage and its importance
in maintaining cultural diversity in the face of increasing globalization.

(00:47):
In this case, France is being recognized for its baguette.
The French baguette was part of a long list of
new inscriptions for twenty twenty two, which includes everything from
beekeeping and slevie and weaving practices in Kuwait to Japanese
dance rituals okay. So why the baguette? It is the

(01:08):
most popular form of bread produced in France. Each day,
bakers there produce more than sixteen million bagats, adding up
to nearly six billion a year. You've probably run across one,
or at least something like it. A long loaf, the
name comes from the word baton or wand in French.
With a crisp, golden brown exterior. The interior is chewy

(01:32):
but airy, with large, irregularly shaped air pockets. France itself
already ensconced the integrity of the baguette in nineteen ninety three,
when it set out strict rules by which baguetts must
be made, following baking traditions that go back to at
least the nineteen twenties. According to this French law, traditional
baguettes can only contain four ingredients flower, salt, water and yeast.

(01:58):
They must be between twenty one and twenty five inches
that's fifty five and sixty five centimeters in length and
about two to three inches or five to six centimeters
in diameter. They can also only proof, that is rest
and rise on the site where they are baked. In
each traditional bakery called a boulangerie. Each baker uses their

(02:19):
own learned knowledge to mix, need and rest or proof
the dough and to make the distinctive cuts on top
of their baguettes before baking, so while there are standards,
every baggette is different. Baggetts and the bakeries that bake
them have a rich social history. In France, bakeries are
neighborhood gathering places, and proximity to bakeries is a top

(02:41):
selling point for many home buyers. Babies and toddlers are
often given the heel of the loaf to chew on
while their teething and young children are sometimes entrusted with
a couple euros to walk to the boulangerie and purchase
baguettes or other baked goods. Despite the bagett's popularity, France
has lost an estimated four hundred artisanal bakeries a year

(03:02):
since nineteen seventy as supermarkets have taken over baking duties
from the traditional blancherie, especially in rural areas. In nineteen
seventy there were fifty five thousand artisanal bakeries in France.
Today it's closer to thirty five thousand. Both the UNESCO
and the National Federation of French Bakeries and Patisseries hope

(03:23):
the recognition for baguettes will spark a revival in quality
artisanal baking. The French government plans to create a holiday
called Open Bakehouse Day for citizens to better connect with
this delicious part of their heritage, and perhaps if more
people appreciate the beloved baguette, it will load the loss
of the local blangerie. Today's episode is based on the

(03:49):
article the French Baguette receives UNESCO World Heritage Status on
houstofworks dot com, written by Patti Resmussen. To learn more
about baguette science and history, check out the episode of
my other show SAB called the Krusty Baggett episode. A
brainstuff is production of iHeartRadio in partnership with houstuffworks dot
com and it is produced by Tyler klang A. Four
more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

(04:12):
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.